Empro.co.uk was launched 18 months ago, by then Housing Minister Keith Hill. As a pilot initiative it was adopted by seven local authorities in West London to help tackle the problem of empty housing in their district.

The Government aims to extend the website nationwide enabling Councils across the UK to support their existing empty housing strategies.

Last October, Birmingham City Council signed up to the service to help bring some of the 15,000 empty properties in the City back into use.

Early interest in the service across the Midlands coupled with interest from a recent TV show has helped push the total number of registered users beyond the 10,000 mark.

The team behind Empro.co.uk are now in discussions with a number of local authorities across the country, and are confident that more Councils will sign up to the service this year.

For further information visit www.empro.co.uk